The 63-year-old building, which fell into foreclosure last fall, is under contract to be sold to Swedish construction giant Skanska.

Sources familiar with the deal say the company may tear down the 18-story property at 811 Rusk and replace it with an office tower.

Michael Mair, an executive in Houston with Skanska USA Commercial Development, would not discuss anything beyond confirming the purchase contract. And Skanska spokeswoman Jessica Murray said the company isn't ready to discuss plans because it's still studying the feasibility of buying the building.

"We're really just trying to get the deal to work at all," she said.

Skanska is also proposing an office tower in the Galleria area. The site, at 3009 Post Oak Blvd., would contain a 300,000-square-foot, 19-story tower.

As the downtown building sale is being studied, changes at the property already have started happening.

Last week, the furniture at the Hunan Downtown restaurant on the building's ground floor had been cleaned out. Owner Gigi Huang, who was at the property last Friday, said the restaurant was closing because its lease had expired.

Also, the Burger King has a sign in its Travis Street window that reads "Closed for Cleaning - Per Management." The franchise owner could not be reached.

Located at the corner of Rusk and Travis, the Houston Club Building is named after the member-owned private club that leases about 120,000 square feet.

Last year, a group of club members considered buying the downtown tower after its owner filed for bankruptcy protection.

In foreclosure

The property ultimately ended up in foreclosure, and the club passed on buying the building.

"While there was significant interest in doing it, the board has focused on finding alternate sites at this point," said Stephen Jacobs, a Houston attorney and Houston Club board member.

The club's lease runs out in May 2015, and it no longer needs such a large space, he said.

Long-term lease

When the building was developed by business and civic leader Jesse Jones, the club was given a long-term lease with nominal rent. The club has been an institution for Houston's business community since it was founded in 1894.

The building's former owner, an affiliate of Cameron management, had been talking with the club about its lease since buying the nearly 350,000-square-foot property in 2007.

But last spring, the Cameron affiliate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an effort to stave off foreclosure. The lender, however, took back the property in September.